Inexpensive Lager Fermenter

[chonas]

Anyone have any good leads/instructions on how to build/buy a container/chiller that will keep a lager in the 50F range (excluding fridges)?

Inexpensive being under $100.

I have a broken refrigerator, a 32 gallon cooler, 5 gallon fermentation vessels (around 2 feet tall) as available materials.

So far the best ideas I've had are running an acquarium chiller in the cooler, and using ice additions every 12 hours. For the ice I'd have to find a "ice needed to cool x volume by x degrees when the air temperature is 75."

 

[billl]

Really cheap..... bucket of ice in the fridge with a fan blowing on it. It would take some practice to keep a steady temp.

If you've got $100 though, just hit up craigslist for a used fridge. There were 4,825 listings in my area for fridge + under $100.

 

[mredge73]

Freezer + controller shouldn't cost that much if you have the room. At most double your budget; you can use it with ales too.

The "inexpensive" methods are very expensive on time; how much is your time worth?
Carboy in a 30 gallon trash can filled with water; add more ice every few hours. $30 + $ice + $time.

 

[Newsman]

I agree... used fridge / freezer (upright freezer is better, IMHO, as you are less likely to throw your back out) with a controller is probably going to get you the "best bang for the buck."

 

[billl]

If you haven't seen them, cheapo temp controllers - google STC1000. They are about $10 on ebay.

 

[chonas]

How about

Plywood box tall enough to hold trash can, fiberglass insulation, trash can, foamboard, trash bag, water, fermenter, CSXC-1 Aquarium Chiller in the water?

I'm trying to think about energy consumption as well.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Freezer + controller shouldn't cost that much if you have the room. At most double your budget; you can use it with ales too.

The "inexpensive" methods are very expensive on time; how much is your time worth?
Carboy in a 30 gallon trash can filled with water; add more ice every few hours. $30 + $ice + $time.

I mean...seriously though. I use to buy bags of ice and all that shyte and have my cooler sitting around and it got annoying and expensive b/c you have to buy the ice EVERY TIME so it might feel like a few bucks here and there...but it adds up and you will eventually spend more. Plus you have to deal with it...IE is it melting...its not constant...I got a fridge and an inkbird in a hurry.

The fridge is an old one and when im not fermenting beer its nice to have a place to put some extra groceries or overflow beer...win win.

 

[Murphys_Law]

This is a little more than you want to spend...

I bought a new Magic Chef fridge at Home Depot for about $125 on sale (works with typical buckets, carboys and the 6 gal fermonster.)

I had to cut the plastic on the door but it was easy with a Dremel.

Add a cheap Inkbird and you have a nice ferm control chamber for around $150.

Edit: just checked the HD site and the fridge is now $179! Yikes! I bet it and others will drop here soon as we get close to Black Friday.

 

[ericbw]

For $100 you should be able to get a used fridge and controller.

The STC-1000 you see for $10-15 is JUST the controller. You have to put it in a box, add an outlet, a plug, and do a little wiring. Depending on how good you are with that, you might want to get a prebuilt one for about twice that.

I made mine because it was interesting to do. (This is a hobby, after all!)

 

[BrunDog]

I built a fermentation box out of malamine particle board with insulation and wrangled a cheap dehumidifier, glycol, etc. it worked ok for lagering in my hot Florida garage. But it's not worth the headache. I bought a upright 20cu ft freezer off Craigslist for $150. Controlled by STC.. works a treat.

 

[maierhof]

Exactly - Freezer (not fridge) on CL and an STC unit to power the thing off and on. I have done that a few times for around $200 parts and stc1000+ included.

If you really want to only spend $100 on one of the most important parts of the beer making then you might have picked up the wrong hobby my friend. This one will ruin your checkbook in a hurry...

 

[augiedoggy]

I built a fermentation box out of malamine particle board with insulation and wrangled a cheap dehumidifier, glycol, etc. it worked ok for lagering in my hot Florida garage. But it's not worth the headache. I bought a upright 20cu ft freezer off Craigslist for $150. Controlled by STC.. works a treat.

While I completely agree if a person can fit everthing they make in one fridge and uses the same temp for for it.. I have added conicals and am up to 4 of them now so the most cost effective way to have independent temp control for all 4 of my fermenters was a glycol chiller system.

I did build my control box, plumbing ,soleniod valves, cooling jackets, insulation (basically everything but the used chiller I scored from work where it was being tossed) for about $200... so even if I built a chiller from a $50 ac unit or one I trash picked at the end of summer thanks to todays throw it away and buy new next spring mentality, With all the time and assembly required its completely not worth it unless you plan on having multiple fermenters going at the same time.


PS off topic tip... every spring/ early summer you see window ac units in the trash and at least half of them are there because the owners never read the directions which warn against trying to use them right after they have been stored on their side... they usually wont work. But if you leave them upright for 24hrs prior to using them and wait for the coolant to flow back down into the tank they will usually work fine.. I learned this as a poor kid who wanted an ac unit in my bedroom. Same rules apply for a fridge but more people are aware of that one.

 

[BrunDog]

True, if you have that many fermenters, especially conicals, external chilling is the way to go. I would suck it up and get a legit chiller at that point - they can be bought new for $800-1000, so I am sure the used ones are much better if you can find them.

 

[chonas]

I'm thinking, large food grade barrel, insulation, smaller food grade barrel, insulation/waterproofing, trashbag, water w/ acquarium chiller, fermenter. This rig will be $85.

 

[BrunDog]

I'm thinking, large food grade barrel, insulation, smaller food grade barrel, insulation/waterproofing, trashbag, water w/ acquarium chiller, fermenter. This rig will be $85.

Good in concept, maybe tougher in execution. Post up the build pics when you make it!

 

[chonas]

Will do. I'm hoping the electricity requirements, floorspace footprint, and smell should be much less than a refrigerator.

 

[BigMack]

https://www.morebeer.com/products/cool-brewing-insulated-fermentation-bag.html

I would absolutely recommend one of these. Fermenter in the brew bag and a few frozen 2 liters gets me in the low 50s no problem. I only have to swap the frozen bottles out every 24-36 hours so not really any trouble at all. I've used it for two lagers so far and they've come out really well.

 

[Weezy]

+1 on the used fridge.

Pick up a $35 inkbird itc-138 (no cobbling together a case of plugs or anything required)

 

[davidst]

You could freeze 2 liter bottles of water and then place them in the fridge, saves the cost of buying ice and having to do cleanup. I did several lagers in a cool brewing bag (see BigMack's post above for a link) before I got my freezer with a controller (which sadly my wife has temporarily taken over so I'm back to the bag). The nice thing about 5 gallons of liquid is that it takes a while for the temperature to swing so once you figure out how many 2 liter bottles you need, you just have to change them as they thaw.

The hard part is trying to get down to near freezing for doing the actually lagering part. I just lager in my keezer, but you'd be missing that step if you're bottling (and from my experience it makes a difference in having a smooth lager).

Seriously, one can make pretty good beer without having to spend a ton on extra stuff.

 

[BrunDog]

https://www.morebeer.com/products/cool-brewing-insulated-fermentation-bag.html

I would absolutely recommend one of these. Fermenter in the brew bag and a few frozen 2 liters gets me in the low 50s no problem. I only have to swap the frozen bottles out every 24-36 hours so not really any trouble at all. I've used it for two lagers so far and they've come out really well.

I suppose if you don't have the space. But dang man, this thing is $75+ to your door. Time is money - you really have the time to swap ice out every day or two? Get a used fridge and Inkbird, STC, Ranco, or other controller and call it done. Bet you could do it for ~100. My freezer could hold probably as much as 12x 5 gallon buckets. It's in my garage and cost me ~$175 net. I never think twice about it other than put in pitched wort and take out fermented beer.

 

[BigMack]

I suppose if you don't have the space. But dang man, this thing is $75+ to your door. Time is money - you really have the time to swap ice out every day or two? Get a used fridge and Inkbird, STC, Ranco, or other controller and call it done. Bet you could do it for ~100. My freezer could hold probably as much as 12x 5 gallon buckets. It's in my garage and cost me ~$175 net. I never think twice about it other than put in pitched wort and take out fermented beer.

I definitely don't have the space, so they are the best option for me. I already have a keezer and all my brew equipment taking up space in the house (no garage unfortunately) so getting SWMBO to agree to another freezer/fridge is an exercise in futility.

And I totally agree that time is money, but it literally takes 30 seconds every day or two. So I'm adding on maybe 5 minutes over the fermentation period. If 5 minutes is making or breaking your brew decisions you may have the wrong hobby.

 

[davidst]

I'm having to use the cool brewing bag now also, I don't mind changing out the ice everyday, you only really have to do it during the first week of fermentation (I keep mine inside so after a week I allow it to rise to ambient temperatures) and I always check on my beer a couple of times a day during that first week. (Using clear better bottles so I can see the yeast in action which I still find fascinating).

With that being said I do miss the ease of my fermentation freezer, there's something nice about setting it and not having to worry about it and I can't wait to use it again. Plus with a freezer it's way easier to get a more exact temperature, so you can do things like drop down to 32 degrees to cold crash and do that drop slowly (5 degrees or a day). Those things are impossible with a brew bag.

 

[ericbw]

If you don't have the space for a fridge, then the brew bag seems like the best cheap option. Yes, a fridge or freezer is the best, and the cost is close to the same. But you can't change how much space you have.